PAK vs AUS 2022: "Pakistan outplayed Australia in the first Test"

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam believes the hosts dominated Australia in the first Test at Rawalpindi. Although the pitch came under a lot of criticism and the match ended in a tame draw, the 27-year-old hailed his players for producing some magnificent individual performances.

The opening pair of Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq were new and the way they dominated the Australian bowlers was something Babar Azam was very impressed with.

Speaking in a pre-match press conference ahead of the second Test, here's what Babar Azam had to say about the first Test:

"(On whether Pakistan outplayed Australia) Definitely, I think the way we dominated and we also picked up their 10 wickets. We also scored hundreds with Abdullah Shafique batting maturely and Imam scoring back-to-back tons. Our senior pro Azhar Ali also batted well and we got a lot of momentum which we will take into the next Test."

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"I don't think we played with a slow run-rate" - Babar Azam

Pakistan batters were criticized by many in the cricketing fraternity for their conservative approach in the first innings at Rawalpindi. The hosts batted for almost two days to put up 476/4 on the board. Many opined that there should have been a sense of urgency in run-scoring.

However, Babar Azam defended his batters and lauded them for the way they handled a world-class Australian bowling attack. He stated:

"I don't think we played with a slow run-rate. Abdullah Shafique was playing just his fourth Test and Imam was making his comeback. The way they played, instead of appreciating them you are saying that they played slow.

"I think you need to look at the opponent as well," he added. "All four of their bowlers are high on confidence and the way our batters dominated them, they also took the run-rate to 4-4.5. You cannot dominate every session. When opposition dominates, you need to absorb pressure and not lose wickets."

With the likes of Hasan Ali and Faheem Ashraf back from injuries, Pakistan could well be enticed to leave some grass on the Karachi pitch to aid the seamers.